


Close to you

by Zelshamada



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gay Shiro, Getting Together, Harry Potter References, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Math doesn't lie, Shance Fluff Week 2017, Star Trek References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-08 21:39:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11090448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zelshamada/pseuds/Zelshamada
Summary: “According to our data, Shiro and Lance are the most compatible in the test group, plus there's a high chance they'll end up together in the near future,” Slav said.“Where did we go wrong?” Ulaz asked, looking at the blackboard.“You have to accept it! You don't have to do anything with the information but it's the truth,” Slav said like Shiro was the one with problems to believe him.As if.--Shance Fluff Week:DAY 1: Black/Blue (chapter 1) – DAY 2: Sea/Stars (chapter 2) – DAY 3: Home/Family (chapter 3) – DAY 4: First/Last (chapter 4) – DAY 5: Cuddles/Hugs (chapter 5) – DAY 6: Magic/Tech (chapter 6) – DAY 7: Past/Future (chapter 7) – DAY 8: Free day (chapter 8. The end)





	1. Black/Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Shance Fluff week! Yeiiiih~
> 
> Please, say hi to my miraculous beta, [amaranthkick](http://amaranthkick.tumblr.com/), because without her this wouldn't have made sense. Thank you so much, by the way! ^^
> 
> Happy fluff Shance week, lovely people. I hope you like this.

Let Shiro make something perfectly clear, he didn't hate Slav.  
   
No matter how much empirical evidence Keith and Matt thought they had, Shiro really, really didn't.  
   
The guy just stepped on Shiro's temper the wrong way and ruined his zen state pretty easily, but he didn't _hate_ Slav.  
   
He just wasn't Shiro's best friend, or his go-to companion, or his favorite addition to their statistics-study group. Slav was way too good in statistics and math, though, so Shiro wasn't around complaining all time about how much he couldn't stand the peculiar dude. ( _—Shut up, Matt._ )  
   
Slav was actually quite helpful when he wasn't panicking over the most absurd things, ruining Shiro's very well known _coolness_ because “there's a 3.2 percent of chance that we all die in a fire the moment you close the door of our classroom!!!”. So there.  
   
Although Hunk, who didn't even share any classes with Shiro and his group, once said to Shiro that Slav was _the Lance to his Keith._ Keith took offense on the statement, though, and went as far as admitting that Lance and him were friends, “and I have never wanted to kill Lance in a painful and gory way; a quick and merciful dead is fine.” Which was both a relief (Yeih! Keith had friends!) and a concern to Shiro because... Surely he didn't snap at Slav that badly? Probably people were exaggerating.  
   
Ok, so there _have been_ moments on which Shiro had wanted to slap him, and Allura wasn't about to let him forget the day she had _commanded_ Shiro to take a lap around the campus because she had known Shiro was seconds away from throttling him, but, in all seriousness, Shiro was a patient guy and Slav was full of good intentions so Shiro usually tried with all his might to cut him some slack.  
   
Plus, there were days on which putting up with Slav lifted Shiro's mood up to the stratosphere.  
   
Normally those were the days that their professor gave them back their papers and exams, all marked with the highest of the scores thanks to all the team work. Because, hey, Shiro was willing to accept that for all that Slav was weird and exasperating, he had his heart in the right place.  
   
Plus, sometimes, that guy was so, so, so _wise._  
   
“According to our data... Shiro and Lance are the most compatible in the test group, plus there's a high chance they'll end up together in the near future,” Slav said, barely taking his eyes off his tablet, like he had said the most unimportant piece of information ever.  
   
Matt gasped, however, and Allura's eyes went comically wide. Shiro, on the other hand, inhaled... And kept inhaling until he was drowning with oxygen.  
   
“What?” Asked Thace going over the math on the acrylic blackboard marked with the tittle _RELATIONSHIP COMPATIBILITY APP (Goooooooo, Team ~~Matt~~ ~~Shiro~~ Allura)_  
   
Allura went over Slav and with a gentle gesture took his table away him to study it. “Well... I'm afraid he's correct. The app with all of our personal data gave that as our first result...”  
   
“Where did we go wrong?” Ulaz asked, looking at the blackboard as well.  
   
Matt laughed and Shiro finally remembered to exhale.  
   
“Nowhere. If that's the final result then that's the final result,” Matt answered, the bastard, grinning and everything.  
   
“Well, it's our first test-run of the app, there could be some mist—”  
   
“My calculation are sound, Thace,” Slav said with conviction and even a tad of irritation. “We went over _all_ the equations and _all_ the variables. We can make it better, of course, but this first result is correct. I told you all that it was better to make an app that predicts if you're going to die that day and how but noooo, you all said it wasn't commercial enough. So fine. But now you have to accept the results. And the final answer is that Shiro, who's represented by the black color right here on the chart, and Lance, he's the blue one, have the potential to be the best couple out of all the data submitted by our test group and that's final.”  
   
Matt laughed again. “Can I see that?” he asked Slav with a friendly grin.  
   
Slav passed over his tablet while looking at Shiro without blinking, clearly uncomfortable. “You have to accept it. You don't have to do anything with the information but it's the truth,” Slav said like Shiro was the one with problems to believe him.  
   
As if.  
   
“I...” Shiro cleared his throat and shrugged, completely nonchalant. “Yes. Of course... I believe you. It's a... Eh, a good result, I guess.”  
   
“It also says here that there's a pretty good chance that Keith will murder someone with Katie's help,” Matt added like that counted for anything.  
   
“My math—”  
   
“Slav has proved himself too many times already, Matt!” Shiro exclaimed moving his arms around the room. “If that means you sister and my bother are potential killers, well, now we _know_ about it for sure and can prevent it. And it isn't even that much of a surprise, let's be honest. But if the app says that then it's true and that's it! The app has spoken, guys!”  
   
They all gazed at Shiro like he was the one with the _Possibly a Killer_ hanging on his neck. Slav included. Shiro looked at everyone in the study group dead in the eyes for a couple of minutes.  
   
“Eh... Then, hm, good job, team?” Ulaz said, unconvinced.  
   
“Yes! That! Good job team! And good job to you, Slav!” Shiro answered, raising from his seat to hug Slav while doing so.  
   
Slav panicked. “There's a 98 percent chance that the world is ending right now. Right at this next second!” He shouted from Shiro's chest.  
   
Allura rolled her eyes.  
   
“Yes, indeed,” she said grinning, nonetheless.  
   
“Is this the real reason why you insisted so much on working on this app as our next project?” Matt asked, eyebrows high on his forehead.  
   
“I have no idea of what you're talking about,” Shiro smiled. “None.”  
   
“... I think you're asphyxiating Slav, Shiro,” Thace pointed out.  
   
“Nah. I'm just euphorically congratulating him.”  
   
“World... Ending... 90 percent...”  
   
See? Slav was such a great guy. Who was Shiro to hate or even dislike a dude so wise and talented like Slav?  
   
(Lance's possible next boyfriend, that's who he was, by the way. That was the answer. That was th _—Stop laughing, Matt!_ )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is finished. Completely (thank God!). So you don't have to worry. Each chapter is gonna follow the Shance Fluff Week's themes and they all tell the story of Shiro and Lance getting together! :D
> 
> So, see you tomorrow. Have a great day!


	2. Sea/Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Shance Fluff Week](https://shancefluffweek.tumblr.com/), day 2: ~~Sea~~ Lake/Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks to [Amaranthkick](http://amaranthkick.tumblr.com/) for being my beta reader ^^

“I missed this so much,” Lance whispered, softly smiling at their scenery. “And I didn't even know it.”  
   
Shiro chuckled. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”  
   
None of them had any kind of opportunity of visiting the lake while they were studying, even when it wasn't that far away from their campus. Much less they had enough opportunities to see their friends from outside their majors, struggling between half-time jobs and writing papers, squeezing in just enough time to have a healthy social life.  
   
There even was a whole month that Shiro didn't see Keith _once._  
   
But it was finally spring break, and all of them had wanted to go back to the lake house that held way too many memories to finally rest, relax and hang out together. This time with the lovely addition of Allura, who had heard lots of stories about all the bonfires the six of them –that's Shiro, Keith, Matt, Pidge, Lance and Hunk– had lighted by the lake-beach, all the competitions they had had on the forest, all the adventures they had lived on the house and its surroundings.  
   
Hunk, and Hunk's parents, had been delighted to open up their house to all of them again, God blessed them all. And after spending at least a week of vacation there for the last four years, going back felt like seeing an old friend again and knowing that nothing had really changed.  
   
Shiro was ecstatic and feeling even better by the minute.  
   
On their third day there Shiro's mind was already giddy with all the memories of Pidge trying to make breakfast before deciding that they all should just eat cereal and be done with it, Keith and Allura's kayak races, Hunk's delicious lunches, and a terrified Matt trapped on the upper side of a tree while Lance laughed hysterically at the top of the tree next to it.  
   
They were his friends, his family, and Shiro was immensely glad that they had all these new moments together.  
   
But Shiro had to admit that this moment alone with Lance was easily one of his favorites.  
   
The night had fallen a while ago and little by little all of their group had retired to the house, either to eat some more or to play with something or another. Lance's perchance for the water was showing again, however, and Shiro was reluctant to leave him by himself.  
   
Especially now, when Lance and him were sitting on the tiny, woody pier, their feet in the water, their hands supporting part of their weight behind them, serene smiles on their lips.  
   
Lance was quietly smiling under the soft moonlight, his eyes shining on their own while watching the lake, his shoulders relaxed, humming a song under his breath that Shiro had heard before but couldn't place.  
   
Lance looked happy. And so, so beautiful. Shiro was half-hypnotized by the view but he was counting on the dark to kept occult his secret staring.  
   
Effortless conversations went on and off all the while, all non-consecutive.  
   
Lance had made a exact replica of Loki's helmet on his 3D Animation program, later Hunk printed it on the college's 3D printer that he wasn't supposed to use, it was now Pidge’s favorite hat.  
   
Matt sleep-walked to a chess-club reunion, now he was an honorary member even when he had no recollection at all of how that happened.  
   
Keith and Lance set off their dorms-building fire alarm the first time they tried to make pizza.  
   
Shiro had the theory that professor Coran's mustache was an alien. Not Coran himself, just the mustache.  
   
Keith thought the same thing and convinced Pidge and Hunk to built him a weird energies' sensor that he had been taking to their Math 101 class every day.  
   
Shiro discovered he was a better cook when he was sleep-deprived.  
   
Lance discovered he was bisexual.  
   
That revelation made Shiro pause. “What, really?”  
   
Lance nodded, looking to the water with the firm intent of not looking at Shiro's surprised features.  
   
“Yeah, you know... College, time to explore and all that...?”  
   
Yes, Shiro knew. He wasn't exactly jubilant that now Lance knew that as well (because Shiro remembered some parties all too well) but he supposed it was inevitable. Besides, now Lance knew something about himself that was new and exciting.  
   
Or Shiro was excited by the knowledge, at least.  
   
“Of course, Lance. That's how I knew I'm gay.”  
   
Lance looked at him grinning with mischief. “Uhm-humm. Yeah, we all heard the story from Matt.”  
   
“What?!”  
   
“Oh, yeah. Keith was so mortify by it. It was awesome!”  
   
Shiro tried to talk a couple of time but his jaw was too far away from him to control it.  
   
“Matt told us about the Shiro-sandwich two dudes made all night long on the dance floor,” Lance playfully punched him. “You dog!”  
   
“No, no, nononono! Wait! It wasn't exactly lik-like that!” Shiro grunted. “Oh my God, I'm gonna kill him.”  
   
“Oh, come on, it wasn't so bad!”  
   
“He's a lousy swimmer. If I push him, we can pretend he drowned.”  
   
Lance bursted out laughing, head going back slightly, neck enticingly on display. “I swear that was the reddest I've seen Keith in my life. I'm telling you, dude, Matt should be the writer of your biography.”  
   
Shiro rolled his eyes, still irritated, but dropped the subject.  
   
“So,... Bi, eh?” Shiro asked, gently.  
   
“Yes.” Lance crooked his head to the side. “Surprised?”  
   
Shiro shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe.” Then, Shiro decided to be partially honest, “But maybe not so much at the same time?”  
   
“Ah,” Lance nodded once more. “I get it. Like when Hunk told us he was demisexual and all of us kind of knew anyway? Yeeeah. I know what you mean.”  
   
Shiro nodded, biding his time so his next question sounded as casual as possible. “... Someone especial, then?” Lance looked at him confused. Shiro cleared his throat. “I mean, now that you know that you're bisexual... Is it because there's some guy you like?”  
   
Suddenly, Lance looked like a deer in headlights. A blushing one.  
   
“Wh—What?! No, no, Shiro! I mean, sure, I kissed a few guys, although no Lance-sandwich had been made, I'm telling you. I-I guess I always knew? I've always felt attracted to some guys just... Sometimes I thought I—I don't know, just—Eh, no. No! No one especial. Yet.”  
   
Shiro raised an eyebrow, amused and more than a little captivated by Lance's dramatics. “Oh? Yet?” He couldn't help himself to ask.  
   
Lance took a deep breath, calming himself almost completely. Then, he turned his head to Shiro, a sweet and secret smile on his lips. “Well, you never know.”  
   
Indeed. Now it was Shiro who took a deep breath. _That could mean anything,_ he told himself. Lance carried on smiling, all peaceful and devilish at once.  
   
“You are a Slytherin, aren't you?” Shiro asked just because he could.  
   
Lance dissolved into delighted giggles and Shiro's heart doubled its pace. Finally, Lance composed himself enough to said, “Excuse you, I'm a Slythindor.”  
   
“Don't give me that shit. That means you're more Slytherin than Gryffindor, anyway! So there!”  
   
“But I want to have the best of both worlds!” Lance wiggling his eyebrows and everything. “Why it's so important? Do you want me sleeping in the same tower as you, Mister Very-Likely-To-Be Head Boy?”  
   
Shiro didn't blush but it was a close call. Instead, he puffed out his chest, trying to look imposing and answered, “I'm a Hufflepuff, you doof, we sleep by the kitchen. And if I was the Head Boy, I'd take points out of Slytherin just for your lack of commitment to your house!”  
   
Lance cracked up for good at that one. Shiro wasn't sure of how he had made Lance laugh that way but he was feeling pretty good with himself anyway.  
   
By the time Lance calmed himself, their conversation went into another lull but it was alright because Shiro was sure that they were both smiling.  
   
A minute later, though, Lance gasped. “Look, Shiro!” He said pointing the water.  
   
Shiro turned his head to the lake and instantly knew what had made Lance so excited. Their feet were unmoving under the water and so, the tide was non-existent and the small lake was the most perfect mirror for the sky and all the stars.  
   
It was breathtaking, looking at the double image of the beautifully starred sky, one above of them, another reflected on the peaceful surface of the water.  
   
“We're bathing in starlight,” Lance whispered with childlike astonishment.  
   
Shiro's heart tripled his rhythm and Shiro was officially out of breath.  
   
He found his voice, nonetheless. “Not yet,” he teased.  
   
Lance looked at him, momentarily confused and so _trusting_ that Shiro almost felt bad.  
   
But naaah, it was too good of an opportunity to let it go.  
   
Shiro pushed Lance to the water without a second thought; Lance had enough time to shout a surprised 'aaah' before going down.  
   
Shiro laughed out loud and then waited a second for Lance to resurface and, unsurprisingly, there he was, still beautiful even wet and startled.  
   
“You little–” Lance started saying but interrupted himself the moment Shiro dove into the water.  
   
Gosh the water was cold, and because Shiro was still laughing he didn't took much air with him before diving in but it didn't matter.  
   
Lance's wide smile when Shiro find him on the dark water was everything he had wanted to see.  
   
“ _Now_ we're bathing in the starlight!” Shiro said, just because he could.  
   
Lance laughed once more, moving around in the water, his eyes reflecting the stars almost as much as the lake previously was.  
   
Shiro was happy and, if Lance's relaxed and playful aura was anything to go by, Lance was happy as well. Shiro's chest was full with fondness and Lance's eyes were full with stars and Shiro couldn't breathe still but that was alright.  
   
Everything was alright.  
   
Three minute later, Matt and Hunk found them playing on the water.  
   
“Seriously, guys?” Hunk asked, looked around for towels for them.  
   
“... I'm so telling Keith about this,” Matt whimpered in Shiro's ear after the came out of the water. “Can you imagine how he's gonna get? Sooooo red when I tell him his brother has the hots for one of his best frie––”  
   
Shiro pushed Matt to the lake. He felt no remorse whatsoever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support! ^^ You guys are amazing.
> 
> See you tomorrow. Have a great day!


	3. Home/Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Shance Fluff Week](https://shancefluffweek.tumblr.com/), day 3: Home/Family

Lance was Keith's friend. And so it shouldn't had been that much of a surprise to Shiro to know that they actually _talked_ about stuff. Personal stuff.  
   
The _hey, do you think they like me?_ kind of stuff.  
   
Also? Shiro personally blamed Matt's bad influence on him for this. After 10 years of friendship with Matt, Shiro naively thought his own moral compass was free of the consequences of Matt's dubious decisions. But boy, was Shiro wrong.  
   
Because the second Shiro spotted Matt sitting on the floor by the open kitchen door, Shiro went to sit by him, no questions asked, even when he knew Matt well enough to know he was eavesdropping whatever conversation was going on inside the kitchen.  
   
Shiro knew that and, nonetheless, he sat beside his best friend with a quiet “What's up?”  
   
Matt smirked in his direction and then pointed to the open door with his thumb. Just for show, Matt then put his index finger on his lips, like Shiro didn't already know that he needed to be silent.  
   
Shiro was tired, a whole day at the lake would do that to anyone. It was their fifth day there, close to the end of their week, so all of them had spent way too much time at the Sun, moving recklessly around. Thereby Shiro had just wanted to peacefully hang out with his best friend and enjoy that he was out of energy for all the good reasons for once.  
   
Yes, Matt was very noisy, he was worst than Hunk even. He also took pride in knowing little pieces of random conversations their friends had that Matt shouldn't had known about, freaking the hell out of them when Matt commented something about it the next day as if he had been in the room with them all along.  
   
That was just Matt being his shameless obnoxious self. They all liked him like that; hell, _Shiro_ liked him like just the way he was. It brought an amusement to his life that only Matt could provide.  
   
Shiro was half expecting to hear Allura and Pidge's voices coming out of the kitchen, what with Matt saying aloud that he really wanted to know what the girls talked about when they were by themselves.  
   
What he didn't expect was to hear Keith and Lance's voices. His shock was probably obvious because Matt's smirk got edgier the second Shiro's brain took notice that he was currently eavesdropping an conversation between his brother and Lance.  
   
“I understand that you wanna talk, Lance... But, really?”  
   
“Yeah, dude! Come on! I'll give you all of the details and you tell me if I'm game or not.”  
   
“No! Seriously, no, Lance! I don't want to know! Whe-Where's Hunk?! Go to him!”  
   
“I already did because, believe it or not, I actually thought about your _feelings_ or whatever but–. I mean. I love Hunk but he has lots of faith in me. I told him everything that happened and he didn't even think, Keithy-buddy–”  
   
“Fucking hate that name–”  
   
“–He just celebrated all by himself like it was a done deal! He wasn't even coherent! I'm telling you, he wants this relationship waaaay more than me.”  
   
A bit of silence. “... Who are you trying to kid right now?”  
   
“... Ok. No more than me. But you gotta admit he's a close second.”  
   
Keith sighed; it wasn't the I'm-resigned-to-have-this-talk kind of sigh but the I'm-so-exasperated-by-you-I-might-as-well-talk-so-you-leave-me-alone kind of sigh. Shiro knew the difference by experience. “So. Ok. You–Gggggrrrh. This is hard! And stupid!”  
   
“Dude, what the hell? You helped me out in the past with this kind of thing! _I_ helped _you_ out. What's the big deal here?”  
   
“The big d–Are you fucki–You know that–Fuck it. Fuck this. Fine! _Fine!_ You have liked him for years now, so just make a move now before you lose your chance.”  
   
“Yeah, but–”  
   
“So what if this is the first time you think he's flirting with you? So the fucking what, Lance? Just ask him out on a date or–or–or something. Go, and. Make. It. Count.”  
   
Silence for a second. Matt took the opportunity to point at Shiro and then at the door once again, completely ignoring Shiro's shocked face, and then proceeded to make a repetitive and pretty crude gesture with his finger and hand.  
   
Shiro was way too stunned to punch him.  
   
“So... You,... You think I have a shot here? A real one?”  
   
“I... Yes. I think. I guess?”  
   
Lance groaned.  
   
“Yes, Lance. I think so. You... Yeah. Do it.”  
   
“... And we're still friends no matter what, right? It doesn't matter how that goes, you and I are best bros, yes?”  
   
“Of fucking course.”  
   
“No, Keith, this is important. I... I don't want to–”  
   
“Shut up. That's it. I get it. Yes, we're... best bros. No matter what. I invested way too much time on you already and I really don't want new friends and, yes. Go for it 'cuz we're fine. Just... Please, please, please don't give details, like, _ever._ ”  
   
Lance laughed, clearly delighted.  
   
“You got it, buddy! Come, let's hug!”  
   
“Don't you fucking dare!”  
   
“Coooome on, Keith. You know that Hunk always make us hug the awkwardness away.”  
   
“Don't touc– Mhpppf. Fine. There, there.”  
   
Shiro didn't remember Matt pulling him from the floor and walking him until he was back in his room, but he was pretty sure that happened because he was now sitting on his bed, watching Matt without blinking and mentally repeating the conversation he'd just heard on a loop.  
   
A couple of seconds later, Matt smiled looking like the most innocent man that had ever been born. “Someone is going to get laaaaaaid. And man, those legs! Now I know why you're so fascinated by them. I can imagine all the things yo–”  
   
Shiro snapped out of his stupor, moving his body until he was painfully sitting on Matt's back.  
   
“Shiro! Noooo!! It hurts! Get off! ALLURA, HELP!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta say: I care for this chapter a lot because Klance friendship gives me life. Also, Matt is so fun to write!
> 
> Thank you for reading, commenting and all your kudos! :) You people <3
> 
> See you tomorrow. Have a great day!


	4. First/Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Shance Fluff Week](https://shancefluffweek.tumblr.com/), day 4: First/Last

Shiro's _inclination_ for Lance wasn't a sudden thing or even one that Shiro didn't see coming. So please, ignore every lewd comment that Matt said because it wasn't like that.  
   
Yes, Lance was attractive but Shiro met the guy when he was an awkward 14 years old and Keith's self-declared frenemy. Shiro had barely thought _Pretty eyes_ before the rest of his attention went elsewhere.  
   
Lance, however, was a constant in Keith's life, just as much as Hunk and Pidge, so Shiro had been reminded that Lance had pretty eyes for _years_. Plus, Lance was fun to be around and he was smart as he was mischievous so of course that Shiro liked him, approved him as Keith's friend no matter how many complaints Keith could throw his way, even. Lance, Shiro decided ages ago, was nice and safe.  
   
But then Lance hit 18 and took his braces out, cut the long bangs out of his hair and his shoulders, arms and back finally realized that they were carrying the body of a swimmer so they might as well grow pleasantly defined and strong; his legs also got the memo, by the way. And that was how Lance stopped being Awkward-Langy Lance to be He-Is-Gonna-Be-A-Heartbreaker-In-A-Few-Years Lance.  
   
Shiro could see he was attractive right away but it really didn't matter at that moment because Shiro and Matt were going to college, they were _adults_ now, and Keith and his crew were the new seniors in their high school. They stopped seeing each other all the time once Shiro took off.  
   
Shiro entered college and then he met Allura, Ulaz, Thace and, well, you know Slav, and everything was a challenge but it was also fun and a new adventure. Shiro discovered that boobs weren't really that much great as dicks were, and Matt discovered that he didn't care about genders at all. They also discovered that they had what their professor called _good hands (at programming_ ––No, it's not an euphemism for masturbation, please, again, just never listen to Matt), so they were good in their career path.  
   
Before Shiro knew it, their first year was over and Keith and his crew were all accepted in the same college so Shiro went home full with excitement and happiness and pride because his little baby brother was going to be the grumpiest astronomer in the world and that sounded amazing.  
   
Shiro saw Lance a couple of times on his vacations, of course. Hell, he even helped move the guy out of his house straight to his college room but still, Shiro's brain apparently was still seeing Lance through the Keith's-friend goggles because it was way into Lance's first year at college that Shiro finally understood what the jumping on his stomach every time he glanced at Lance's direction meant.  
   
When Shiro first realized he was seriously attracted to Lance, the other boy was standing in a coffeeshop queue, dressed up in a jacket that accentuated all the right places of his body, helped by dark skinny jeans hugging his long legs and beany on his head that made his blue eyes pop out even more than usual. Shiro felt a very powerful and encompassing shiver conquering his whole body at the view.  
   
_Well, damn,_ he thought. Lance was hot. Really, really hot.  
   
And then Lance turned around, spotted Shiro in the crowd and _smiled_ , all familiar and sunny and perfect. And that was it. Shiro was gone. What was breathing?  
   
It got worst and worst the more time he spent with Lance. Because Lance was still endearing and sweet and charismatic and everything that Shiro had always liked about him but now porting a body that made Shiro stop and stare. And stare, and stare.  
   
Matt told him that he had caught Shiro longingly staring at Lance's tights. More than once. Like four times that same week. On a Wednesday.  
   
On the other hand, the terrifying one, Shiro was pretty sure it wasn't just a physical thing because he had _proof_ of it. Both quantitative (see the Relationship Compatibility App's result) and qualitative. The qualitative one, however, it wasn't so easy to point out, not as specific, but Shiro always got one event that...  
   
It was also the first time Shiro accepted that Lance was the answer to all those stressful, awful days that left Shiro feeling like crap, those days on which he had to force himself to feel better and carry on working just by sheer will.  
   
That day in particular, Shiro was fighting a battle against gravity for his head. Half of him wanted to rest his head on the table and sleep a little, right there at the library, the other half of him wanted to keep studying and just be done with it. In consequence, he was doing nothing at all, not resting, not reading, just blinking at nothing and breathing.  
   
Gosh, he was tired.  
   
“Hard day, Shiro?” Lance said softly, accommodating himself on Shiro's table, pulling out of his backpack a text book and his laptop.  
   
“You can say that again.”  
   
“Ouch, man. But yeah, me too. Uh, mind if I join you? I just need to finish something in my new character’s design. The 3D animation is kicking my butt.”  
   
Shiro smiled. “Mmh. Sounds impressive. What are you working on?”  
   
“Basic 3D animation of a character, really. An _original_ character, that's it. I just need her to wave and turn around and, well, I really want her to blow out a kiss but I might need to get a bit more realistic with my timeframe and skills.” Lance shrugged. “Plus, right now I'm just learning this new program so my character looks more like a half formed pile of clay than a pixelated human but, well, _whateves._ ”  
   
Lance showed him the screen of his laptop and, yes, there it was a greenish vaguely female character on it. As Lance had put it, she looked like a body made out of clay.  
   
“She looks... Ok?” Shiro tried to sound reassuring.  
   
Lance laughed out loud, seemly amused by Shiro's comment.  
   
“It's fine, dude. 'Ok' is a compliment, I'm telling you. I haven't finished her 3D design, but! But! Check this ouuuut...!” And then Lance pulsed a key and the character started dancing. It wasn't a fancy dance or even a flashy one; the character just went up and down bending her knees while moving her arms on waves like electrocuted noodles. It was simultaneously very simple and pretty damn funny.  
   
Shiro laughed. “Oh my God! That's amazing!”  
   
Lance beamed, looking at his creation with amusement. “Yeah, well... That's what happens when you leave me alone with a whole pot of coffee and no supervision. I wanted her to dance La Macarena but, hmm, maybe in the future...”  
   
“Please, let me know when you do it!”  
   
Lance looked at Shiro with open fondness at that. And so, inexplicably and little by little, every stressful and heavy weight that Shiro was carrying dissolved themselves away, his brain was suddenly clear and his mood got instantaneously better than ever that day.  
   
A few seconds passed and neither of them looked away. Then, with a gentleness that Lance reserved for his loved ones only, he squeezed Shiro's hand lightly, caring. “Can I stay here while you keep studying?”  
   
“Yes. Please.”  
   
Lance quietly smiled the rest of the afternoon.  
   
So really, openly flirting with Lance? Yeah, that got a long time coming. Still, listening to Lance talk to Keith about... About, well, _him_... It was incredibly flattering and a little bit embarrassing. Matt had the gall to keep his mouth shut about the whole deal, against all odds, and Shiro felt himself glowing a little, an easy grin in his lips permanently.  
   
Keith, Allura and Pidge looked at him with suspicion. Hunk commented that Shiro looked good while happy and Lance... Lance kept low-key flirting with him, teasingly fun and friendly.  
   
All in all, it was a pretty good spring break.  
   
On their last day on the lake house, just when they finished carrying all of their stuff out of the door and into their cars, Lance locked his pretty eyes with Shiro's before winking and pointed at him with silly finger guns. “See you around?” Lance asked with a suggestive voice  
   
Keith face palmed himself.  
   
“I'm counting on it,” Shiro responded as suave as he could with Matt's exaggerated giggles as soundtrack.  
   
Lance's smile turned sweet and beautifully cheerful.  
   
Allura and Matt teased Shiro the whole trip back to their campus. Shiro's enamored smiled didn't falter once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now you have it, backstory!
> 
> Thank you for reading! ^^ See you tomorrow. Have a great day!


	5. Cuddles/Hugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Shance Fluff Week](https://shancefluffweek.tumblr.com/), day 5: Cuddles/Hugs

“I'm just saying that they would make a great couple!” Lance opined glancing over Shiro's doubtful expression. “Come on! Think about it! They are perfect together!”  
   
“I don't see it,” Shiro comment with a shrug. “Kirk and Spock, on the on the hand...”  
   
Lance stopped walking for a bit and put a hand over his heart with a dramatic gaps, Shiro smirked and continued his way on the sidewalk. The night was quiet and just slightly cold, perfect for their stroll back to their rooms.  
   
“I should have known you're a main-stream kind of guy. Gosh! Me and my rare pairing are judging you, Shiro, we're judging you hard.”  
   
Shiro laughed. “Sure. Judge all you want about a _fictional_ pairing on a _fictional_ show... That it's even _more_ fictional because is _so rare_ , it's crazy.”  
   
Lance gasped again, catching up to Shiro's pace quickly. “I don't think you're ready to the greatness that is the Kirk/Chekov pairing so, just for that, I let you be. For now,” Lance said with a magnanimous tone of voice.  
   
Shiro raised and eyebrow. “No, Lance. I seriously think you're wrong...,” he said.  
   
“What do you m—?”  
   
“... Because Sulu and Chekov are my OTP.”  
   
“Oh! My! GOD!” Predictably, Lance throw himself to the ground, arms raised high to the sky. “Whyyyyyy? Just... Why?!”  
   
“They're cute together,” Shiro answered honestly. Then, he rolled his eyes. “Come on, we just saw a marathon of the movies and somehow you watched more chemistry between Kirk and Chekov than between Sulu and Chekov? They even made Sulu gay in the new movies just to make it easier, I'm sure of it!”  
   
Lance looked at him from the floor like Shiro had just betrayed him. “Excuse me?! Did _you_ watch the last movie, the emotion and the loyalty and the trust between Kirk and Chekov?! That's true love!”  
   
“Right, right,” Shiro rolled his eyes once more for good measure and helped Lance off the ground. “Whatever you say.”  
   
“Hm. Well, there's still plenty of time to make you change your mind. Like, you can ship whatever you wanna but someday, not too far away, you're gonna be OK with Kirk and Chekov together, you just wait.”  
   
“Sure, Lance,” Shiro smirked, relaxed and picked up their walk again.  
   
“So, we don't have the same OTPs in Star Trek but I'm sure we can find a pairing we both ship.”  
   
Shiro nodded. “Ok. Let's see.”  
   
“Stucky?” Lance asked in a hopeful voice.  
   
Shiro grimaced. “Stony.”  
   
“Seriously?! You rather Steve with Tony than with Bucky?! His friend and most loyal companion?!” Lance almost shouted in astonishment.  
   
Shiro moved his hands in what he hoped was a _What can you do?_ gesture and kept moving forward.  
   
Lance took the hint and let it go. “Fine, fine. Right. Ok. How about...? Oh, yeah! Harry Potter? Drarry is amazing, am I right?”  
   
Shiro made a point of glancing at his moving feet just so he didn't have to look Lance's progressively more distressed face.  
   
“Mh. I like Draco with... Ghhg.”  
   
Lance blinked, confused, and shortened the space between their bodies so he could hear Shiro better. “What was that?” He asked.  
   
“Ggghhhg,” Shiro repeated.  
   
“Did you just said Hermione? Because I think I can see the appeali—”  
   
“I said 'Ron'!” Shiro half yelled, cheeks a bit red. “Ron and Draco have so much potential! And I've never get why other people like Draco with anybody else!”  
   
“... With Ron?!” And, of course, Lance started laughing at that. At loud. Bending over himself and everything because he couldn't breathe. “And-And you gave me shit over Kirk and Chekov...”  
   
“You gotta admit that they're fascinating!”  
   
Lance mocked him. “Uh-uhm, uh-uhm. _Not!_ You're officially insane!”  
   
“ _Pff!_ Shut up and think more pairings.”  
   
Lance kept coming up with (fandom) popular couples from different tv shows, movies and even books that they both had in common, and time and time again Shiro's responses weren't what Lance was expecting from him or vice versa (“Destiel, right?” “Eh, Sastiel” “What the actual fuck, Lance?!”). Even though, they continued lazily walking until they were standing outside Lance's room building.  
   
Shiro didn't think much of Lance's silent behavior for the last few minutes, attributing it to the irrevocable fact that right there and then they had to say goodbye, ending their (what was possibly but maybe not really because no one had said it yet) first date.  
   
Shiro didn't know how to end the night, nor he wanted to but when he looked over his companion Lance's scowled features told Shiro that Lance was worried for something more than a goodbye.  
   
“Hey, what's wrong?” Shiro asked taking in Lance's eyes fixed on the floor and the way his hands were on his jacket and his shoulders were shrunken like he was trying to make himself smaller.  
   
“Nothing's wrong,” Lance said in a soft, careful voice. “It's stupid, I know that but... We really are different, aren't we?” Suddenly he looked at Shiro with the whole force of his vulnerable and very blue eyes. “We can't even agree in the way... I mean, I know these are fictional relationships but... Hmm. Our tastes are so... Different.”  
   
Shiro took a deep breathe, knowing quite well what Lance's point was. He knew it because Shiro had thought about it for a long, long time. That was the real reason it took Shiro more than three weeks after the spring break to ask Lance out to watch the Star Trek marathon, and even then, they had never called it a date.  
   
They were really different, inside out, and the sudden separation from Lance gave Shiro a small panic attack, all of his self-doubt asking at once if it was a good idea to compromise the group's balance and interaction and _friendship_ just for Shiro to finally kiss Lance, to be with him in a completely new way; if it was worth it.  
   
And after three days semi-hiding on his bed and a good talk with Allura and Matt, Shiro knew the answer to that.  
   
Of course it was worth it. Lance and their possible relationship was so, so worth it.  
   
“Yes, they are,” Shiro answered as tender as he could. “Because we're very different. But,” Shiro smiled, softly cupping Lance's face on one of his hands, “I can think of at least _one_ pairing I know we both'll like. A lot.”  
   
Lance's smile was tentative, nervous but still quite beautiful. “Really?” He asked.  
   
Shiro nodded and Lance beamed at him, eyes shining, his whole face illuminated with fragile happiness. Shiro kept smiling and then Lance tilted his body just a little and Shiro took the hint right away.  
   
Shiro arms wrapped themselves over Lance's medium and Lance's hands were over his shoulders and nape. Not so suddenly, they were hugging. Shiro's nose on Lance's hair, Lance inhaling and exhaling over Shiro's neck, their legs rocking a bit in a invisible dance.  
   
Shiro breathed once more, taking in the smell of Lance's kiwi scented shampoo and tightened his arms just a fraction more around Lance, feeling himself become simultaneously more grounded and lighter at the same time.  
   
Shiro was happy. _So worth it._  
   
“I'm talking about Leia and Han, of course,” Shiro said with an audible smirk.  
   
Lance started laughing right away just where he was by Shiro's neck, moving his whole body with laughter like he usually do and now, finally, Shiro got to feel it all over. “Dibs on Han!” Lance added fast.  
   
“Of course,” Shiro rolled his eyes, pulling just barely away from him, looking at Lance's eyes again.  
   
“You'll make a cute Leia, anyway,” Lance said with a smile and a wink. And then, “Good night, Shiro,” Lance whispered, affectionately kissing Shiro's cheek.  
   
Shiro blushed a little, a sweet feeling slowly conquering his chest, stomach, arms, legs and face.  
   
“Good night, Lance,” he whispered back before finally breaking the hug.  
   
Lance went into his building, pausing just once to wave at Shiro before going out of sight. Shiro took a second to compose himself and then continued his path to his own dorm room.  
   
He couldn't stop smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like this chapter, even though originally was going to be very, very different.
> 
> Anyway, I'd like to take a moment to point out that while I admit that the Kirk/Chekov pairing isn't for everybody, can you please consider being a Ron/Draco shipper? Because I seriously need more Ron/Draco in my life... And people to talk about it. Drarry is ok but, think about it... Ron and Draco... Give their fictional love a ~~shance~~ chance.
> 
> Anyway! ^^ I hope you liked this chapter. Thank you for reading! See you tomorrow. Have a great day!


	6. Magic/Tech

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Shance Fluff Week](https://shancefluffweek.tumblr.com/), day 6: Magic/Tech

Shiro was stressed. So much so, that Slav was in serious risk of being punched in the face, especially if he kept repeating the same thing over and over.  
   
“There's a 63 percent chance we won't finish our App before our deadline.”  
   
Yes. That.  
   
“We know, Slav,” Allura responded in a diplomatic voice, her eyes glued to her laptop. “Although we thank you for the update, we’d appreciate it more if the whole of your attention was on creating the algorithm that we need.”  
   
“Yes. Certainly. But the chance that we don't finish the App _at all_ grows exponentially by the hour.”  
   
“Shiro is gonna hit Slav with his chair and call temporary insanity,” Thace said under his breath so only the programmers could heard him.  
   
Shiro didn't react but the tick over his eye grew a little worst.  
   
“Nah. Don't think so,” Ulaz opined, much to Shiro's relief. “I think he would call it 'justice'.”  
   
That traitorous bastard.  
   
“Come on, guys, give him a break,” Matt whispered and Shiro knew that nothing good was going to get out of his mouth. “Besides, I'm pretty sure that there are more that one universe on which Shiro just killed Slav and then went happily to prison.”  
   
See? Nothing good.  
   
“Shut up and keep programming!” Shiro snapped at them earning snickers as answers.  
   
Shiro took a deep breath. He could do this, _they_ could do this. They had been programming and coding for the last 32 hours but they could make it, Shiro was sure.  
   
“There's a 64 percent chance we won't finish our App before our deadline.”  
   
“THAT'S IT!” Shiro screamed, pushing himself up so fast his chair felt to the floor and he didn't even noticed.  
   
“Don't kill him!” Matt shouted dramatically, going as far as throwing himself over Slav like a bad impression of a body guard. “Without him we're screwed!”  
   
“Shiro!” Allura reprimanded him with her tone alone. “What are you doing?”  
   
“Nothing!” Shiro yelled, opening his arms wide. “I'm literally just standing up. Now, if you excuse me, and before I commit mass murder, I'm going out!”  
   
“There's a higher chan–” Slav started but was interrupted by a growl from Shiro.  
   
After a moment in silence, Allura recovered her voice enough to said, “Ye-Yes, Shiro, I think it's for the best if you... Take a break for a few minutes.”  
   
Not a second later, Shiro was out of the door and running on the hallways.  
   
Shiro's blood felt like it was boiling under his skin, his head was about to explode from a overdose of information and codes, his eyes were definitely dry and he couldn't feel his shoulders or his butt but he was pretty sure pain was on its way.  
   
Shiro was overwhelmed. And cranky. And in no condition to finish his damn work.  
   
Fuck college, fuck programming and fuck the relationship app. What the hell were they thinking? Just, why they thought they could complete this massive task as their final project? _Why?_  
   
Shiro was about to scream again in the middle of a crowded hallway just to relieve some tension –surely the other students would understand him– when his cellphone went off.  
   
Lance was calling him.  
   
Shiro stopped moving and rested his back on a wall, debating about accepting the call or not.  
   
He was in a nasty mood, he knew that much, so it was probably a good idea to leave Lance out of it. On the other hand,... He was in a nasty mood so he seriously wanted to listen to Lance's voice for a bit, suspecting the effect it would have on him.  
   
They hadn't seen each other in two weeks straight, they hadn't even got out on a third date because college and obligations got in the way. Hell, they hadn't even kissed yet, even when Shiro was pretty sure that Lance was going to kiss him back with all he had.  
   
It was an exciting thought. One that lifted his mood just enough for him to answer the call.  
   
“Hi,” Shiro greeted, doing his best to keep the stress on his voice at bay.  
   
“Hi, yourself,” Shiro could guess a sweet smile adoring Lance's lips. “You sound awful.”  
   
Against his will, a laugh escaped Shiro's mouth. “Yes, well. Rough week.”  
   
“Urg, man, yeah! I feel you. Hunk and I just finished a giant project we had together. I'm beaten.”  
   
“You do sound quite sleepy,” Shiro pointed out.  
   
“Mmmhyeah. But Pidge made his really weird coffee that tasted like pure sugar and neither of us fell asleep, like, _ever_ and now that we've finished all of our finals we're waiting for our bodies to dispose out the whole thing.”  
   
Shiro blinked. “That sounds... Awful. And terribly harmful.” A second in silent. “Do you still have any of that left?”  
   
Lance laughed, warming up Shiro's sad and withered soul. Finally, he said, “Don't. Sorry. Keith passive-aggressively drank the whole thing after telling him he shouldn't. It was horrible and I lost 5 precious minutes laughing. But he's the only one of us that had already crashed and is sleeping so...”  
   
Shiro felt alarmed. “What?! Is Keith ok?!”  
   
“Wh—Oh. Yes! Yes, he is. Don't worry, dude,” Lance chuckled. “Hunk is looking over him, anyway. Plus, Pidge assured us that the coffee was safe... If you just drink it once a year or so.”  
   
“Oh my God!” Shiro cackled up without meaning to. “That's–Take care of yourselves!”  
   
“Sure, sure,” And Shiro could just picture the easy-going grin that Lance was probably carrying. The image made Shiro calm down. “So... I hear you almost went all Hulk on Slav...?”  
   
“What?!” Shiro's voice was alarmed once more. “Who told you that?!”  
   
“Hmmm. Well, Matt. But to be fair, Allura texted me first, telling me I should call you. Oh! And also two unknown numbers –that I'm guessing are Ulaz and Thace– sent me two different videos of Slav in a full panicked mood. He's screeching something about a universe where you all suddenly auto combust or something? And how without you there's nothing they can do to pass...?”  
   
Well. _Goddammit._  
   
Shiro sighed, loud and unrestricted, feeling both irritated with his friends for calling _Lance_ as if Shiro needed to be looked over, and also feeling highly stressed out again, and just a little bit sad, for some reason.  
   
“Yeah. That sounds like Slav alright,” Shiro sighed once more, shorter this time. “Look, I'm sorry they texted you, they shouldn't have. I'm just—I don't need—I'm so talking to them when— _I'm handling it.”_  
   
“I'm sure you are,” Lance said without missing a beat. “Just, hmm... Tell me about it? Please?”  
   
And just like that Shiro was talking. And kept talking until there was nothing else to talk about. He told Lance about how they discovered that their App ran well enough in Slav's tablet but not in other devices, how their algorithm was incomplete and they only had 24 more hours to solve the problem or they all were going to fail.  
   
He told Lance about the fact that he was pretty sure he couldn't turn his neck without almost crying from pain, how Allura and the guys hadn't slept in way too much time to be productive, how Slav just drove him mad.  
   
Shiro's voice was never on the same volume, going up when talking about his team, down talking about himself, sad and depressing while talking about how for the first time on his college life he wasn't sure if he was going to pull it off.  
   
“I'm complaining too much, I know,” Shiro ended his monologue gloomily, “But, seriously? I just want to sleep. Maybe eat a little. I–I... I don't know what else to do, Lance.”  
   
For a moment, Shiro just could hear Lance breathing over the line and he thought Lance had fallen asleep on him instead, but then Lance's voice reached Shiro's ear, full with fondness and happy determination.  
   
“I hope you know I'm picturing your life as an episode of _Silicon Valley_ , just so we're clear.”  
   
Shiro snorted.  
   
“My life would be much easier if I was Richard, that guy is a fictional genius.”  
   
“Yes, he is. _You_ are the one who is a real genius and is working his ass off to prove it.”  
   
That made Shiro pause. “Hm, no. No, I'm not–”  
   
“Yes, you're, Shiro! You're incredibly good at what you do. For what you just told me, you guys finished an entire app that it's based on way too many variables and option in only _three weeks_. That's amazing! You guys are freaking rockstars!”  
   
“Eh... I wouldn't put it that way...”  
   
“Yeah. _You_ wouldn't, that's why I'm the one being sensible here.”  
   
“No, Lance, I'm–”  
   
“You're amazing, Takashi. I don't care what your overworked brain is telling you. You. Are. Amazing. And you have a great team that got your back when things get rough, plus a weird looking guy that is incredible good at probabilities and statistics.”  
   
Out of nowhere, Shiro laughed. Lance was making him laugh even when Shiro was pretty sure he hadn't be able to smile a couple of minutes ago.  
   
“Yeah, Slav can be... A lot.”  
   
“He's also saying that they need you. And you know why's that? Because you're the best in what you do. That's why you guys are such a great team, because you all are the best of the best.” Lance sighed, voice serious for once. “Go outside, Shiro. Go and eat something, drink some water. Then, go back to your friends and just let yourself do what you do best: lead people to their maximum potential.”  
   
Shiro was speechless, but he tried to talk anyway because Lance couldn't see the way his jaw was all over the floor.  
   
“I... Really? You really think so?”  
   
“Oh, heck yeah! I've known you for years, Shiro. Believe me. I know what I'm talking about,” Again Shiro pictured Lance smiling over the phone; it was such a charming image. “And I'll tell you what. When all of this is over, I let you sleep for a whole day before going to your dorm packing tons of Hunk's food and my DVD collection of _Brooklyn Nine-Nine_ so we can cuddle and finally relax. How does that sound?”  
   
It sounded amazing. It sounded so good Shiro's heart was beating in a double tempo and his hands were arching to just be there, on his bed, hugging Lance warm body, eating delicious food and feeling Lance's full body laugh on his own skin. Shiro wanted that to be real so badly that he literally felt a new rush of resolution entering his body, clearing his mind.  
   
Shiro needed to earn that time with Lance, so he was going to work his ass off for it.  
   
“Shiro?”  
   
“That. Yes. I want that. It's a deal, Lance,” Shiro answered, breathless.  
   
“It's a date,” Lance corrected.  
   
Without him meaning to, Shiro was smiling.  
   
“Hell yes, it's a date.”  
   
Lance laughed.  
   
After the call, and after leaving Keith a worrying text message about his health, Shiro followed Lance's advice and went outside, barely resisting the urge to hug a tree. He bought a sandwich and then ate it by a tree, though. The almost-summer weather calming Shiro's unrestful nerves.  
   
By the time he was at their lab once again, Shiro was smiling, feeling calm and a tiny bit more relaxed. He apologized to everyone with cheap coffee.  
   
“You look better,” Ulaz commented incredulous. “Way better.”  
   
“Yeah,” Thace added. “Like you slept or something.”  
   
“He's right,” Matt boasted in that obnoxious voice of him, the one that he pulled when he was being a little shit. “It's like something has changed you.” Matt wavered his eyebrows. “Magic, maybe? Perhaps, the strongest magic of all...?”  
   
“Oh!” Allura said watching Matt until her eyes found Shiro. Then, she smiled. “That's great.”  
   
Shiro tried to fight his blush for a second but he was too tired to fight lost battles.  
   
“Let's go back to work!” He said.  
   
“There's a 57 percent chance we _do_ finish our App before our deadline now that Shiro is back!”  
   
Shiro cracked a smile and began to work.  
   
A couple of hours later, after they finally created a new algorithm and started coding like possessed people, Shiro's email icon on his laptop popped a red asterisk marking a new email on his inbox.  
   
It was from Lance. It read a short message (“May the force be with you”) and an attached file. Shiro opened it without a second thought.  
   
It was a 2D animation, much closer to pixels than to clay this time. Two characters were on his screen, one dressed like Princess Leia, hairstyle included, with a cut of Shiro's face where Leia's was supposed to be. The other character was, of course, Lance as Han Solo. And they were dancing La Macarena, jumping and everything; every time the characters completed the sequence of the dance cheerful letters spelling _YOU CAN DO IT!_ went off all over his monitor.  
   
Without being able to avoid it, Shiro laughed attracting his team attention to Lance's ridiculous creation. At the end, the were all laughing out loud. Matt was even crying a little.  
   
“I guess our App's results are pretty accurate, eh?” Thace teased him.  
   
“Yes, they are,” Shiro smiled.  
   
“There's a 87 percent chance we finish our App on the next 6 hours!”  
   
Shiro locked his eyes with Slav and nodded, confident on his team skills.  
   
They could do this.  
   
He could do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... It's love, by the way. The strongest magic of all, I mean. #Potterhead
> 
> I gotta say, this chapter was going to be very different but I liked this version better ^^ I seriously hope you liked it as well.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading. See you tomorrow. Have a lovely day!


	7. Past/Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Shance Fluff Week](https://shancefluffweek.tumblr.com/), day 7: Past/Future

“Slav! You wanna hear the story of Shiro and Lance's first kiss?” Matt loudly asked just after finishing his second Long Island Iced Tea.  
   
“Matt!” Shiro barked, almost choking himself with his own beverage.  
   
“What?” Matt protested, raising his arms in the air, uncaring of all the other bar patrons surrounding their table. “After all, Slav's like, I don't know, like your fairy godmother? Nerdy godmother?” Matt smirked at Slav direction, “Put me out of my misery and turn around a couple of time singing _Bibbidi bobbidi boo,_ please?”  
   
“Absolutely no! Cinderella is my least favorite princess movie!” Slav argued looking quite nervous while doing so; he was moving his short arms around so fast that Shiro thought for a moment he had 4 set of them. “What kind of prince is such an idiot that is outrun by a woman wearing a heavy dress and only one heel?! That's impossible in every universe, except in a very idiotic one!”  
   
Shiro decided to take another sip of his drink, eyes greedily taking in all of Matt's shocked features.  
   
“Excuse me?! Cinderella is one of the greatest Disney's movies!”  
   
“I'm not saying that it isn't!” Slav vehemently added. “I'm just saying she deserves better than that lazy prince with no name!”  
   
“Oh,” Matt paused and nodded a second after. “Ok, then. You're right, Slav.”  
   
Slav said something that sounds suspiciously like “I'm always right.” Shiro took another sip, hiding his amused smirk.  
   
“But, anyway, wanna hear the story of how Lance went to our dorm door the day after we finished the beta version of our Relationship App and sweetly devoured Shiro's mouth right at my kitchen counter? Shiro melted all over the floor!”  
   
“Matt!” Shiro scolded him once more, amused feelings forgotten.  
   
“What, Shiro? You keep interrupting me!”  
   
“Stop trying to divulge all of my _private_ moments! Slav doesn't care and nobody _ever_ cares! Besides, that was two years ago, let it go already!” Shiro didn't yell at his best friend but it was a close thing.  
   
“Oh, come on, Shiro! Of course Slav cares! Your relationship was born thanks to the first result of the first algorithm he created–”  
   
“–That's not exactly true and you know it.”  
   
“Plus, it's a nice, circular way to celebrate the fact that we just sold that troublesome and cliché fucking App to someone else for a lot of money,” Matt explained, moving around his empty glass like an alcoholic asshole.  
   
“No. You're just gossiping drunk,” Shiro stated.  
   
“That's 100 percent accurate,” Slav opined, drinking from his water. “Besides, you told me the story before. Last year, I think.”  
   
“Oh, yeah,” Matt friendly smiled at Slav, half closing his eyes looking innocent and full of good intentions.  
   
“What?! Why?!”  
   
“Get over it, Shiro,” Matt huffed, batting his hand at Shiro's direction. “It was important at the moment.”  
   
“Yes,” Slav carried on sighing softly. “It gave me faith.”  
   
Shiro blinked. “What?” He whispered. “Faith?”  
   
Slav didn't elaborated further. Shiro wanted to push for more information but, unfortunately, Matt decided to keep pushing his luck instead.  
   
“Oh. What about Shiro and Lance's first time together? Did I tell that one?”  
   
Shiro choked with his own spit for real this time.  
   
“I don't believe so, no,” Slav answered.  
   
“Oooh, man!” Matt laughed, small tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. “It was so funny! Shiro told me to get out of the apartment but I returned early the next day and Keith was there for some reason and –Hahahaa!– His face! –Hahahaa!– Keith's face when Lance went out Shiro's room wearing Shiro's shirt and –Hahaha!– And obviously _nothing else!”_ And then Matt proceeded to _howl_ his laughter out, punching their table his his fist and everything.  
   
Shiro was mortify. Both because his own face felt really hot and because it looked like Matt couldn't breathe enough in between his shrieks of laughter. Slav, however, reminded calm, quietly smiling over his side of the table.  
   
Right then and there, Shiro felt all the fondness that he had developed for Slav take over him, subduing the alcohol effects he was starting to feel, and so he chose to talk with the guy that –ok, fine– was kinda like his nerdy godmother of love.  
   
“Why...?” Shiro started, unsure, not knowing how to subtly ask about Slav's personal problems. Then, Shiro decided to just be direct. “Why did you need faith? Are you ok?”  
   
Slav seemed surprised by Shiro's concern. Like Shiro's worry over him was something Slav had never calculated before. And, wow, that made him feel like a jerk faster than anything before.  
   
“I mean,” Shiro added, voice soft and patient. “I know we aren't close, and I'm sorry for that, but... If you need help, or anything, you know you can... Hm. I'm here if you ever–”  
   
“I know,” Slav, mercifully, interrupted him. He looked at his water while clearly gathering his thoughts. “It was last year, when we were working on the second version of the Relationship App, and I really thought it was the most superficial thing I'd ever worked on. I almost hated it. But then, Matt explained to me it was important to some people, and how it had helped you. And in return, the story helped me to understand that I wasn't losing my time.”  
   
After Slav's collected explanation Shiro was speechless. He was vaguely aware of Matt study them but he was too focused on Slav's face to mind him.  
   
“I...” Shiro tried to respond, searching for kind words to explain himself. “I had no idea. It did help us, help me, that's for sure...”  
   
Slav nodded, weirdly resembling a very solemn bird. “Yes. I noted that you were healthier and balanced and... Happier. And your productivity radically improved, just as your concentration and patience. But... It didn't occurred to me it was because of Lance until after Matt pointed out. And if my algorithm helped you to make a decision, to finally be happy then... My time was well invested.”  
   
Shiro didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if he was breathing normally and his limbs felt heavy even when his heart was beating with a happy tune but he didn't know how to react. A voice that sounded suspiciously as Lance's whispered inside his head to just go for it.  
   
Delicately, slowly, Shiro approached Slav, arms poised to deliver a hug. After giving Slav plenty of time to accept his destiny, Shiro embraced him in a loose grip. “Thank you,” Shiro said to his companion with all the gratitude and caring he could muster. “For everything. Also, thank you for not quitting on us.”  
   
“Aaawwww,” Matt cooed.  
   
“It was–” Slav stuttered. “It was nothing, really. That's what friends are for.”  
   
“Aaaaawwwwwww,” Matt exaggerated. “I guess the hundreds of dollar we just made in the App's sale is just a bonus of our beautiful and meaningful friendship.”  
   
Shiro laughed, releasing Slav from his hug and putting his arm around Matt's shoulders instead. “Yeah, it is!” He cheered. “Just like Slav as my nerdy godmother!”  
   
Slav smiled, obviously pleased.  
   
Matt chuckled. “Yeaaah, he's you godmother... If the godmother goggled at Cinderella's prince every time he visited her at her computer lab.”  
   
It took a second to Shiro to understand what was Matt implying but once he understood, he looked directly at Slav without hiding his shock. Not because he was offended but because it was _Slav._  
   
“What?” Shiro asked with a barely-there voice.  
   
“No! No! I don't goggle!” Slav denied, moving his arms around once more. “I just think he's pretty to look at and nice in general but that's it! That's it!”  
   
Matt snickered. “I bet you've calculated the circumference of his ass already.”  
   
“Did not! There are zero percent chance of me thinking about that!” Slav defended himself, which of course provoked Matt to keep picking at him.  
   
Shiro sighed, silently wishing for Allura, Thace and Ulaz to hurry up and arrive at the bar.  
   
“You wanna hear the story of the first time Katie caught Shiro and Lance almost doing it?”  
   
Shiro growled in warning even though he knew Matt wouldn't care less. Slav looked scandalized.  
   
“The first time? So... It was more than one time?”  
   
“Sure! The first time was against a wall, the second time was when we went to the beach. But the third time, oh boy, that was in Lance's car and let me tell you exactly what Katie told me and Keith...”  
   
Shiro knocked down the rest of his tall drink in one go in a desperate attempt to escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to be just Shiro and Lance <3 Also, it's the last one.
> 
> Hope you liked it! Thank you for reading. See you tomorrow! Have a nice day.


	8. Free day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Shance Fluff Week](https://shancefluffweek.tumblr.com/), day 8: Free day.

Shiro woke up the next day exactly in the way that he loved the most: by Lance's tender caress over his forehead and hair.  
   
“Hi there, gorgeous,” Lance greeted him once he opened his eyes. Shiro smiled a bit even when his head started to throb a little. “Look what I got for you and your handover.”  
   
And then Lance, smart, kind, beautiful, attentive Lance helped him to sit up on his bed and gave him a glass full with bubbly water. Shiro drank it all at once.  
   
“Thank you,” Shiro told him, moving his head away so his awful morning breath didn't get his boyfriend.  
   
Lance kept smiling, accommodating himself over Shiro's bed in a better position, laying lax and relaxed beside Shiro. “Wild night?”  
   
Shiro snorted. “I think so. I vilely recall Matt swinging himself to the public at the karaoke bar. I think he felt down to the floor?”  
   
Lance laughed, although in a quiet manner, mindful of Shiro's headache. “Oh, no, babe. They caught him. He hurt himself trying to run away from so many people who wanted his drunk ass, though.”  
   
Shiro blinked. “How do you know that?”  
   
“Got my ways,” Lance winked at him, unfairly attractive and alluring even when Shiro wasn't feeling at his best. “Hunk made a big casserole of his famous hangover-remedy soup. I volunteered myself to bring you your portion.”  
   
Shiro hummed, taking in Lance's bright eyes, the mischievous curve of his smile, the way his body was shivering lightly with repressed laughter. Shiro knew enough about Lance's body mannerism to know without doubts that Lance was hiding something that he thought it was amusing. Also, that it had to do with Shiro.  
   
Time to low-key prod for information.  
   
“Did you bring Matt's portion also?”  
   
Lance cracked up. “No,” he choked a little with his own laughter. “Pidge is the one searching for him all the way to the Chess-club room because he passed out there this morning. He sent Pidge a picture of a game he was winning against himself! It was so funny!”  
   
Damn it, Matt. Shiro sighed even when he was smiling a little because Lance's good mood was really contagious.  
   
Shiro sobered up a little looking at Lance smiling at him with a great deal of fondness. Everything in Lance seemed pleased, happy and impish. He looked so charming, with his blue eyes shining even in the soft light of the day. That was the way Lance looked when he hold a good secret, Shiro realized.  
   
Lance looked exactly like the first time he said _I love you_ to Shiro; confident but absurdly relaxed and so present in the moment that made Shiro both lightheaded and grounded, irrevocably connected to Lance himself.  
   
Shiro didn't fight the enamored smile he felt taking over his mouth. Lance deserved them all.  
   
“Allura texted you, didn't she?” Shiro inquired with a soft voice. “She told you that we drank a lot celebrating and that's why Hunk made his hangover recipe.”  
   
Lance's smile got wide. “Yes. And dearest Hufflepuff Head-boy did it again. Very good.”  
   
“You're insufferable,” Shiro deadpanned, the effect totally ruined because he couldn't stop smiling.  
   
Lance chuckled, then he caressed Shiro's hair once more. “You deserve to celebrate with your team without feeling like one of the zombies from _The Walking Dead_ the next morning, and Hunk agrees with me so we got up really early today to make you the miraculous soup. Now, go the the bathroom while I heat it up and then you can kiss me in gratitude so I can pass over all of your kisses to Hunk so he knows you love him as well.”  
   
Shiro rolled his eyes. “Not all of my kisses, Lance. Just one in the cheek is enough. In fact, I'll give it to him myself when I see him.”  
   
“You just want to kiss Hunk, don't think I don't see right through you, Shirogane.”  
   
Shiro laughed, forgetting for a second his throbbing head so he grimaced after that. Lance pulled a sympathetic face and gently pushed him to the bathroom's direction. “Go,” he whispered.  
   
Shiro took himself off the bed mostly because he wasn't sure he could resist any longer not kissing Lance, awful breath be damned.  
   
When he got out, feeling a lot better after a shower, Shiro found Lance in his kitchen, heating up Shiro's breakfast by the stove. A secret smile shone on his eyes the moment his gaze found Shiro.  
   
“Ok. What's going on?” Shiro asked.  
   
“Whaaaat? What could be possibly going on? _Pleh-ase.”_  
   
“Lance, you hate cooking but you are still grinning like a beautiful maniac. Even when it's just you heating something up you hate it enough to get grumpy for a second. So, yes, I know you aren't telling me something.”  
   
“Oh. I’m a beautiful maniac? A cute one, also? Maybe someone that makes the stars fall down from the sky every time he walks by?” Lance teased him, finally deciding the soup was hot enough. He took a dish to the table and gave Shiro a spoon.  
   
“You really aren't going to tell me?” Shiro asked, moving his soup around in his plate, waiting for it to cool down a bit.  
   
“Maybe I want you with a full stomach before I tell you,” Lance sat himself in front of Shiro. Grin still in place.  
   
“Fine,” Shiro agreed scooping up his breakfast. _Hhmmm._ Hunk's food was amazing; even his remedy for handover. “Thank you for this,” he smiled at Lance.  
   
In answer, Lance broke himself laughing. It actually started Shiro for a moment until he realized that Lance, although looking a bit crazy, looked really joyful and happy, laughing like it was the only way his body could deal with his intense feelings.  
   
Like he said, Shiro knew Lance's body and body language very, very well. He knew when Lance was being impossible _on propose_ and when he couldn't handle too many emotions inside himself. “I'm so in loooooove,” he said in between breathes. That made Shiro smile.  
   
“Now I need to know what's up, Lance, you know I do!”  
   
Lance passed him his cellphone over the table, a video was already loaded on it. Shiro pressed Play.  
   
Immediately two things happened at the same time. The first was that Shiro's memory rebooted itself, sending him a panicked recollection from last night that Shiro was sure he was going to watch now from the eyes of a spectator rather than his own. The second one was that his face got red so fast he felt dizzy for a moment and lost the first seconds of the video.  
   
But now his eyes were well adjusted on the screen and, although he knew perfectly well what he was watching, part of his brain refused to acknowledged it.  
   
Because he was looking at himself, on the karaoke bar stage, gripping a mic like he was rapper while singing one of the most embarrassing and corny songs one could sing at one of those places when you were younger than a 60 year old.  
   
_“On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come truuuueeeeeee,”_ the Shiro on the video sang, going completely off-key at the end and everything.  
   
Then, he proceeded to sing the rest of the song in what he presumed was Japanese because the Shiro in the video was modulating so badly that he couldn't understand a thing.  
   
_“So, deei sssprink'd moon du_ st _n'ur'air of gold 'n' tar-ligh in urrr eyes of blueeeeeeeee! 'Cuz Lance has blue eyes, ya'll!”_  
   
The camera moved after that and Allura appeared for a couple of seconds on the video, rolling her eyes to Shiro's clumsiness on stage. Or maybe to the 'aaawww' that was easily heard from the small audience that was watching him sing. Anyway, Shiro now knew that Allura had been the one who filmed him and sent Lance this monstrosity of a performance.  
   
Oh, Allura was gonna pay.  
   
Hm. Was that Matt in the background, behind Shiro signing and acting like a showgirl from Las Vegas?  
   
Matt, obviously as drunk as Shiro was, was singing perfectly, the voice of an angel making up for all of Shiro's awful one. That fucker.  
   
But the Shiro of the video wasn't done. He kept singing, this time, with more feeling but at least with less screaming and with an even voice.  
   
_“That is why all the girls in town follow you all a'round. Just like me, they long to be close to you...”_ The Shiro in the video smiled. “You don't understand, he's so cute and I really want to be close to him! So, I'm finishing this like Lance would. Mic drop!” And then, of course, he dropped the mic to the ground and made a symbol with his hands after that Shiro guessed it was supposed to be _Rock on._  
   
Shiro got off the stage (an unknown person close to Allura's cellphone said out loud 'uff! Watch that ass go! I wanna be close to that!', much to Shiro's mortification). Matt stood there by himself for a few seconds, singing _'La-lalalaaaaa, close to yooouuu'_ with his stupid melodic voice.  
   
Suddenly, Matt yelled “And you haven't seen his legs! His legs deserve a song too!”. And then, without any explanation whatsoever, he threw himself to the small audience screaming “Rockstar!”  
   
The video finally reached the it's last seconds with Allura's alarmed “Matt! No!” and then it was over.  
   
Shiro couldn't raise his head up to look at Lance. He didn't think he could look at _anyone's_ face after that.  
   
Shiro, once again, didn't know what to say. He tried, anyway.  
   
“I... I... Hmm. Lance, look, I–” Shiro still hadn't looked up, stubbornly keeping his gaze in Lance's phone.  
   
“YOU'RE SO CUTE!” Lance shouted. Then, out of nowhere, he launched himself to the floor and started rolling on it, directionless. “I can't deal with this, _ya'll_!!!” Lance laughed again, uncontrollable this time. “Keith got so red when he listened to your Texan accent!! And I want toooo beee close to you as well!!!” More laughter. “Buuut, aaaahhhhgggrrhh!!!”  
   
Any other response, something mushy or sweet or even remotely romantic, would have made Shiro uncomfortable. He didn't know why, precisely, but he had never felt like him and big romantic gestures were made for each other. And Lance, for all that he was a big flirt and a big game, understood that about Shiro and even seemed to share it. At the very last knew how to live with it at peace, knowing where to look for Shiro's proof of affection, being honest and direct with their feelings at the right moments.  
   
And so Lance literally rolling on the floor with laughter that made his body convulse for how strong it was, his whole aura screaming about his pure happiness even more than his mouth (“I love you so much and you're so fucking sweet and I'm dying, Shiro!!”) was the only answer that could relax Shiro enough to make his smile.  
   
“You're crazy, seriously,” Shiro calmly said to his boyfriend who was now rolling all over the small living room.  
   
“I CAN'T!”  
   
Lance rolled around, periodically shouting something about “all the feels” that Shiro made him feel, until Shiro finished the last of his soup, which was a troublesome task to complete because he couldn't stop smiling.  
   
Only then, Shiro went to Lance's currently whereabouts around the couch and scoop him up on his arms, earning a started yell from Lance followed by a “gggrrrhhhmmmmrrrrr, whyyyyyyyyy?” muttered directly on his chest.  
   
Shiro chuckled, amused by Lance's way of coping with his feelings, and said in a collected voice that he knew that Lance knew it was fake. “How about we forget about this for now and go to cuddle and watch a whole season of _Bob's Burger_ until we can actually talk about everything?”  
   
It took a second, but in the end Lance calmed himself enough to talk coherently. “Ok. Good plan.”  
   
Shiro lost himself a little on the new and delicate smile that Lance was giving his way. Slowly, taking care of Lance's weight on his arms, he moved his boyfriend until Shiro kissed him on the lips. The kiss was short but sweet and full with pretty emotions that Shiro didn't know how else to express while sober.  
   
Lance quietly sighed at the end of it, this breath going into Shiro's lungs. Somehow, that felt even more calming and grounding than the kiss. Shiro liked that a lot. The way Lance made common thing so much _theirs._  
   
“Ok,” Lance repeated, wrapping his arms around Shiro shoulder, helping him carrying his weight even when it really, really wasn't need it. “Take me to bed, gorgeous,” He winked. “That's my second favorite place to be with you, anyway.”  
   
Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Really? What's the first one?”  
   
“Oh, the wall, of course.”  
   
Shiro laughed.  
   
Actually, Shiro had had plans for that day. He was going to spend the afternoon with Lance, celebrating the sale in a private, intimate way, and then he was going to act all cool and composed and ask Lance's opinion about finally moving in together, finding an apartment that was close to Shiro's office and Lance's studio, searching for a coffeemaker that could be adjusted to both of their tastes. But then again, a whole day cuddling with Lance and nursing his hangover was looking like the best kind of celebration ever, anyway.  
   
Besides, Shiro could discuss with Lance about the future any other day, really, because Shiro was pretty sure that Lance was going to make a –loud, lively, messy, chaotic– great adventure of their whole lives, anyway.  
   
Plus, the possibility of Shiro and Lance getting married on the next couple of years grew exponentially every time they smiled at each other. Shiro was positive because he asked an expert in statistics about it, so he knew what he was talking about.  
   
(He was talking about eternal but ever-changing happiness, by the way. With Lance. That was the answer he was looking for, the only way to m _–shut up, Matt!_ )  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it. This fic was going to be very, very different as a whole. But then I listened to _the Homer song when he's in Alaska, awww~_ and paid attention to the lyrics for once and... Yes. This is the result ^^ ([Carpenters - Close to you](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFx-5PGLgb4))
> 
> I really, really hope all of you've liked this. Thank you for all the people who read, commented, bookmarked and subscribed to this, each and everyone of you made smile and happy. Thank you! ^^
> 
> Once again, thanks to my lovely and awesome beta, [Amaranthkick](http://amaranthkick.tumblr.com/) (She's also participating in the Shance fluff week, by the way! ^^ [You can read her at her tumblr!](http://amaranthkick.tumblr.com/post/161653082297/by-your-side-again))
> 
> I'm kinda sad to let this one go. But I'm also happy it finished! :D Plus, I'm currently working in another Shance AU (a bit longer than this one) and the next part of another Shance fic I need to finish. Hope to see you there?
> 
> Thank you for everything! ^^ Have a great week!
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://zelshamada.tumblr.com/) / [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/zelsh)


End file.
